This invention relates to a storage enclosure adapted for use at the rear of an open load bed motor vehicle such as a light duty pickup truck.
In the course of using utility motor vehicles including light duty trucks in connection with various jobs, controlled or organized storage space is needed for luggage, tools, equipment, supplies and items of value that may require reasonably secure storage and shelter from the elements. The increasingly widespread use of open load bed pickup trucks by tradesmen as well as for personal transportation vehicles has increased the need for improvements in storage enclosures in such vehicles which may be used for transporting and safe-guarding tools, equipment, construction materials and other articles of value. Certain other types of vehicles such as vans, sport-utility vehicles and station wagons also lack organized, confined storage space adjacent the rear door or tailgate.
It is known to provide storage enclosures or trunks for securing portable property such as tools, luggage and equipment on the open load bed of a utility vehicle or light duty truck. For example, pickup trucks include a generally rectangular box-like load bed, and storage enclosures and security trunks have been developed which mount on the forward portion of the load bed, just behind the vehicle cab. Although such enclosures provide secure and substantially weather-tight storage for property, they are difficult to access for loading and unloading purposes.
It has also been proposed to mount tool boxes or enclosures on the hinged tailgates of vehicles such as pickup trucks, wherein spaced apart stanchions are secured to the tailgate and support a toolbox on trunnions which permit the toolbox to remain in a horizontal or upright position when the tailgate is open or closed. However, the clearance required to maintain such a toolbox in an upright position, regardless of the position of the tailgate, requires the toolbox to occupy a considerable amount of space within the load bed.
It is often desirable to open the tailgate for insertion or removal of articles which have an overall length substantially the same as or slightly greater than the length of the load bed itself. Moreover, it is often necessary for tradesmen and craftsmen to use the tailgate in the open position as a work support surface while having ready access to tools, equipment and supplies near or adjacent to the tailgate. Still further, the entire deck of the load bed is sometimes needed for storage of materials when the tailgate is in an open or closed position. Front mounted tool boxes or storage enclosures do not satisfy that requirement. Moreover, other conventional storage enclosures for open load bed vehicles are difficult to remove from the load bed when the entire load bed space is needed.
My U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,598,962; 5,564,776; 5,498,049; 5,324,089; and 4,938,519 disclose and claim certain improvements in storage enclosures for motor vehicles equipped with hinged tailgates.